Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS)

Introduction

The Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) allows end-users to print directly to PlanetPress Workflow from any Windows application, by using the familiar File|Print option. At the other end, PlanetPress Workflow can capture the incoming stream and optionally convert it to a PDF file along with its metadata.

Although it is available with every PlanetPress Workflow instance, this feature becomes even more useful in environments where the Document Input emulation is available (with PlanetPress Workflow).

Install a Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS)

The Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) is automatically installed during the PlanetPress Workflow setup, along with a default Windows Printer Queue called PlanetPress Printer.

Install a Windows Printer Queue using the Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS)

A Windows Printer Queue using the Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) can be installed from PlanetPress Workflow WinQueue Input plugin properties.

To create a new Windows printer queue from any PlanetPress Workflow:

  1. Start your PlanetPress Workflow Configuration program.

  2. Insert a WinQueue Input plugin.

  3. In the WinQueue Input plugin properties, click New.

  4. Enter a Name for the printer queue.

  5. Click OK.

Every new Windows printer queue using the Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) is shared by default. Once such a shared queue is created, end-users can install it on their own computer by going through the same steps they would when installing a new remote printer in their Operating System. By default, connecting to a shared printer will automatically result in the Objectif Lune Printer Driver being downloaded to the connecting host.

Printer Properties setup

PlanetPress Workflow WinQueue Input task can be configured to set a Windows printer queue using Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) to produce one of 3 different types of data files: EMF, PostScript, or PDF.

Printer properties settings

Spool Print Jobs in EMF Format

  • This will create an EMF data file.

  • This format is usually reserved for use with the Windows Print Converter action plugin.

Spool Print Jobs in RAW Format

  • This will create a PostScript data file when the option Create Composed Document Stream (with Medatada) is unchecked.

  • This will create a PDF data file when the option Create Composed Document Stream (with Medatada) is checked.

Create Composed Document Stream

By default, the Create Composed Document Stream option is:

  • Checked if the incoming stream has been produced with the Objectif Lune Printer Driver.

  • Unchecked if the incoming stream comes from some other PostScript Driver.

  • Grayed out and unchecked if the incoming stream is not PostScript.

Data Capture from PlanetPress Workflow

Once a shared Windows printer queue using Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) is installed on both the server and the client sides, data capture can be achieved the same way as with any other Windows printer queues.

  1. Open your PlanetPress Workflow Configuration program.

  2. Insert a new process.

  3. Select WinQueue Input from the Plugin Bar and insert it in the new process.

  4. In the WinQueue Input properties, select a Windows print queue using the Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) from the drop-down list.

  5. Click OK.

  6. Send the configuration and start your PlanetPress Workflow service.

  7. Start the windows application from which you want to capture data.

  8. Open your selected document.

  9. Click File | Print.

  10. Choose the same Windows print queue as in step 4.

Note: Steps 6-8 can be performed at any time, even if PlanetPress Workflow is not yet started. This is because every Windows printer queue using Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) is paused by default. Once the service has started, it captures every queued job.

PDF creation parameters

PDF files retrieved from a Windows print queue using Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) have the following properties:

  • PDF 1.4

  • Optimized PDF (subject to change)

  • No down-sampling of images

These settings are pre-configured and cannot be changed by the user.

About Metadata

Metadata files are files containing information on the job itself rather than containing the job per se. A job sent to the Objectif Lune Printer Driver (PS) creates its own Metadata, allowing users to retrieve relevant information, such as, for instance, the time and date the print request was sent and how many pages it contains. For more on this, see the Metadata documentation pages (Metadata).